El Pasoans give immigration reform measure mixed reviews

El Paso community leaders and government officials welcomed a bipartisan Senate immigration bill introduced Wednesday in Congress that would create a pathway to legal status and eventual citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Some criticized the proposal because it would pour billions of dollars into border security and impose restrictions that would leave thousands of undocumented families out of the legalization process.

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act would put the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally on a 13-year path to citizenship that would cost $2,000 in fines and additional fees and taxes.

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Lorena Figueroa

The legislation would also revamp the nation's legal immigration system, create new immigration opportunities for high- and low-skilled workers, double the number of visas for highly skilled engineers and computer programmers to 110,000, limit visas for agriculture workers to 337,000 over three years, and offer greater chances for family members of U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents to get visas.

Under the bill, employers would face tough, new requirements to check the legal status of all workers.

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, said Wednesday that he was still studying the 844-page bill. But after a first look through the bill summary and going through some briefings by people who are involved in the process, he said there are a lot of positive features in the proposal.

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"We finally have, in black and white, a proposal to fix our broken immigration system -- the first in decades," O'Rourke said.

"There's still a lot to be decided, but we're cautiously optimistic that we have the beginning of a comprehensive immigration reform this year," he added.

U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, who represents about 60,000 people in the Lower Valley, said, "We finally have a framework to a common-sense immigration process."

Cristina Parker, Gabriela Castaneda, Claudia Diaz and Jose Manuel Escobedo address a small crowd of immigrants along with members of he press as they commented on the recently released comprehensive immigration reform bill. (Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times)

"We can agree that our nation becomes stronger as more people learn English, pledge allegiance to our flag, and can commit fully to this nation. I'm hopeful that the trigger mechanisms are created in good-faith and that they are not an attempt to further move the goal post," he said in a written statement.

"This is a historic moment," said Fernando García, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), whose ranks include 5,000 members in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico.

"We all know that we need immigration reform; however, we need to make sure we are doing it the right way. We must ensure that our border enforcement strategy is accountable and transparent," he said.

Network officials said they approved the creation of the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Task Force under the proposed legislation.

The organization's deputy director, José Manuel Escobedo, said law enforcement, academics, elected officials, religious leaders and residents from the border would be part of the task force to review policies and give recommendations to improve the policies.

At the same time, the DHS will have to respond to any recommendations or comments made by the task force, he said.

Other provisions that the network officials considered "positive border policies" included strengthening prohibitions on the use of lethal force by border agents, prohibiting racial profiling, and creating a DHS ombudsman on human rights and DHS border community liaisons in every Border Patrol sector.

El Paso is now the only Border Patrol sector that has a border community liaison, network officials said.

Escobedo said those provisions "balance out and mitigate the negative aspects of this legislation."

Some of the "negative aspects," according to network officials, include deploying the National Guard to the border and the "misguided and irresponsible" spending of an additional $3 billion -- in addition to $11 billion spent on border enforcement in 2012 -- to secure the border. Ê

O'Rourke said the border has never been more secure. He said the government spends $18 billion a year on securing the border, which has experienced record high deportations and low apprehensions.

"To spend another $3 billion for more surveillance systems and more continuation of the border fencing is a reason for concern for El Paso," he said.

He added that those resources need to be spent at the ports of entry to make sure they are fully staffed and to reduce the current long waits that cost jobs in the local economy.

Network officials said a new measure set for DHS in the bill -- 90 percent of apprehension rate at the border -- "will also lead to further expansion of the massive militarization of the border."

Network spokeswoman Christina Parker said that border security should focus more on threats.

"At the border, we need an enforcement system that works and focuses on real threats -- terrorists, drug smugglers and human traffickers -- not people looking to work and raise a family in the United States," Parker said.

She cited a recent poll in which the majority of Americans considered stopping drug and weapons trafficking along the border as a higher priority for the Border Patrol than stopping undocumented immigrants.

Under the bill, immigrants in the U.S. illegally could gain provisional legal status in six months as long as they meet certain criteria, and if the Homeland Security Department has moved forward on plans to secure the border. They would remain in that provisional status for 10 years, able to work legally, but barred from receiving federal benefits. After 10 years, they could seek green cards offering permanent legal status. After an additional three years, they could seek citizenship.

They would have to pay a total of $2,000 in fines and fees and taxes, though that amount has not been determined.

People brought here illegally as youths could get green cards in five years and would become eligible for citizenship immediately after that.

Some community leaders criticized the 13-year total wait because it would leave thousands of families out of the process.

For O'Rourke the wait is fair.

"All of these requirements are tough, but at the same time, I think the American people demand that people who come here illegally have to pay a penalty and part of it is the wait to make sure that they don't commit crimes and don't pose a threat to our communities," he said.

Gallego said he asked the bipartisan group of senators, known as the Gang of Eight, who introduced the bill to give special consideration to members of the armed forces who risk their lives for the United States.

"The immigration process should ensure special consideration for these men and women," he said. "I requested that they eliminate the three- and 10-year bar for spouses, prevent the termination of petitions of spouses and children of fallen heroes, and streamline the naturalization process for those deployed overseas."

Mary Jerónimo, 37, who came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico two decades ago, said the bill gives her hope to come out of the shadows and offers a sense of security for her family.

"All of this time I have lived with fear to be deported and be separated from my children," said Jerónimo, a single mother of three boys who were born in the United States.

She said that although it is a positive step for immigrants like her to achieve legal status, the path to citizenship is too long under the bill.

Lorena Figueroa may be reached at lfigueroa@elpasotimes.com; 546-6129.

Times reporter Aileen Flores and The Associate Press contributed to this story.